Kim Ok

File:Kim ok.jpg

This photo provided by the U.S. Department of Defense shows Kim Ok, the 42-year-old former secretary to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, seated at the far end of a meeting table, center, as U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, left, meets with Jo Myong Rok, second from right, first vice-chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission at the Pentagon in Washington in this photo taken Oct. 11, 2000.(U.S. Department of Defense)

Kim Ok is a North Korean, occasionally regarded (unofficially) as "North Korea's first lady", and has served as Kim Jong-il's personal secretary since the 1980s. She is reported to have started living with Kim Jong-il at some point after the death of Kim's third wife Ko Yong-hui.[1]

Ms Kim was a musician-turned-secretary and is now living with Kim Jong-il after serving as his private secretary. At Pyongyang University of Music and Dance, she was a piano major.

Since the 1980s, Ms Kim has served as Kim Jong-il's secretary, travelling with him within North Korea and also abroad, such as Mr Kim's visit to China in January 2006 where they met hinese President Hu Jintao.

• "Report: Kim Jong Il living with secretary" by The Associated Press, July 22, 2006, retrieved July 24, 2006
• Article on the front page, of the South China Morning Post, Monday July 24, 2006